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Charles L. Cotton wrote:

MeMelYup wrote:Thinking about this. What is the difference about this and what was done for Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys last session?

Exactly. As Baldeagle said, it can be used as leverage. We haven't supported it, but if it passes, we'll certainly use it to try to amend the Penal Code to have all CHL's exempt from both TPC §§46.02 and 46.03. Some will correctly argue that we haven't attempted it yet, but please note the timing. Prosecuting attorneys were added last session and this session is entirely too short to do anything more than our flagship bills and range protection. I say too short because redistricting and budget are time hogs that will push everything back far enough not to get a floor vote before the session is over.

Chas.

I would think that, if campus carry passes this session, the other dominoes will fall pretty quickly. After all, what's more sacrosanct than a college campus?

Have you ever considered the possibility of 1463 being leverage? Politics is a game of compromise. One I could never play, mind you, because I won't budge on my principles. But, in politics, if you can't budge on principles you won't get very much done. Look what standing on principle has done for Ron Paul. He has a small cadre of devoted followers and many, many more who may admire his courage but think he's a nutcase. Kleinschmidt may well have gained some votes by introducing 1463. But a bill like this could be politically radioactive, so Kleinschmidt could gain the votes he needed for the employee parking lot bill while never fully intending to push 1463 through to passage because he knows it will inflame some citizens who will make their anger known, pushing some politicians away from voting for passage.

Mind you, this is the purest of speculation, but it's certainly not uncommon in politics to see these sorts of accommodation done to get other legislation through.

As much as I find politics utterly disgusting and dishonorable, and a profession not to be admired, the reality is that, if you are to achieve your goals as a politician, you have to be willing to give up on some desires while standing firm on others. You have to be willing to bend with the political winds while standing firm during the hurricanes. You have to learn to read the public's mood so you know when to push really, really hard and when you have to tread ever so lightly and try to sneak into law the things you stand for. It's been a very hard lesson in life for me to learn that, and even now, as I near the latter years of my life I will only bear so much before I become incensed.